Scripture
I Samuel 13:11-12 “Saul replied, I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, the Philistines are ready to march against us, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help! So I felt obliged to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
Observation
This is one of the great self justification passages in all the Bible. Saul shows us what not to do. Here we see a downward slide that will always lead to disobedience.
1) I saw. Saul saw things falling apart. The Philistine army was coming against him and his army was running scared. Every day that passed, he was losing his soldiers and things were getting worse.
2) So I said. Sometimes the most important person that talks to you is you. It is called self talk. Saul said to himself that he better do something. Things are falling apart and if he just sits there things are going to get worse. Negative self talk is a huge contributor to disobedience. Rather than speaking the word of God to yourself, you focus on the negative circumstances. Faith is focusing on what God says. Fear focuses on what the devil says. Who will you listen to? The better question is what information are you feeding yourself.
3) So I felt. Your self talk will affect your emotions. You can talk yourself into positive emotions. You can talk yourself into negative emotions. Saul justified his disobedience because he reasoned within himself. He talked himself into rejecting God’s commandments.
4) You didn’t arrive. One last thing that I see here is that Saul refused to take responsibility for his actions. He even blamed Samuel. If you would have been prompt I wouldn’t be in this situation. My disobedience is your fault. This is why God took the kingdom from Saul. Saul never repented when confronted with his sin. David committed a much greater offense but when the prophet confronted him, David repented. He didn’t blame others. He took responsibility.
Application
I must keep my eyes on Jesus and fill my mind with His Word. My focus cannot be on the bad that might happen but on what God says will happen. I must train my mind to have positive self talk. I do not mean prideful talk. I mean to meditate on what God says about me and my circumstances. Paul says think on these things. Paul taught that we can bring every thought into captivity. I can control my self talk. If my self talk is right my emotions will follow. My emotions are controlled by my thought life. Lastly when I mess up and sin against God, I must take responsibility. Repentance is more than feeling bad for what I have done but confessing my actions as wickedness. Taking responsibility is not blaming others or deflecting blame. It is admitting my sin and willing to accept the consequences.
Prayer
Father, I ask you to forgive me for the times I get my eyes off of you and onto my circumstances. Teach me to control my self talk. Teach me to control my thoughts. Never allow me to blame others for my sins. Help me to be mature enough to accept responsibility and consequences for my actions. I do not want to deceive myself and justify my sins. I want to be clean and pure before you. I want to be pleasing to you.
